Bowl for Scleroderma – Thelma’s Silent Words is a
bowling fundraiser for the Scleroderma Foundation Ohio Chapter. The event features two games of bowling and a silent auction. The event has a sports-related theme and many of the auction items are sports memorabilia. Advertising and marketing for the event occurs via social media, past participation and word of mouth. Registration takes place up until and including the day of the event. (Day-of-event registration in person only. Online registration closes on 9/22/17.) See attached flyer for
additional details.

A Letter from the Organizer

Dear Friends and Family,

In
2002, my mother, Thelma, was paying us a visit.
During her stay, she complained about stiffness and weakness in her
appendages. She dropped a few plates and
bowls while preparing dinner, but we both jokingly overlooked these symptoms as
old age. Little did we know that just a
couple months later at a routine physical, the doctor would tell my mom that
she had a rare disease called Scleroderma and that this disease was attacking
her body in an atypical manner – targeting the skin first and then the nervous
system.

As
a family, we were rocked from our foundation by this news. We quickly read every article and medical
journal that we could find on the internet about Scleroderma. Even with treatment and preventative
maintenance, nothing improved my mother’s condition. Her skin rapidly became hard to the touch and
discolored. Not only was her quality of
life affected, but also her confidence. But despite this, even amidst the 1 ½ years of
lung treatments, steroids, occupational therapy, discomfort, and bouts of
depression, my mother continued to laugh, give love to her kids and grandkids,
and create memories through great conversations.

In
December of 2004 my sister called me hysterical. Our mother had taken an afternoon nap and
could not be awakened. I got on the
first flight to New Jersey to be by her side.
Nothing in my life could have ever prepared me to see my first teacher
and my first love confined to a hospital bed, unable to move or speak. The emergency tracheotomy she had received
upon her arrival limited our communication to hand written notes on a small
white board. That afternoon of passing
notes was the last time I communicated with my mother. Kidney failure and decreasing lung capacity
had started shutting down her body. The
physicians were optimistic that she would recover with minor procedures, but
they were wrong.

At
7:25 on Christmas morning, I was awakened by a phone call from a physician at
the hospital. He told me that my mother
had gone into cardiac arrest and that her internal organs were completely
hardened. Then he asked that dreaded
question, “Do you want me to keep your mother on life support?” My family immediately gathered together at the
hospital. Over the next 2 ½ hours, my mother went into her second cardiac arrest
and with my family’s support, I instructed the physician to remove my mother
from life support. She was gone.

That
morning, before I was awakened by the doctor, I was dreaming of my mother. I was sitting in her hospital room where she
was up and walking around, looking out her window, and sometimes talking to
me. Her words were not audible, yet I
completely understood the silence.
“Everything is going to be ok. My
job is complete here and it’s time for me to go home.” As my mother delivered her final message to
me, she turned towards the window and instantaneously, my phone rang. When I picked up the phone, I knew as the
physician started talking that she was gone, but because of my mother’s silent
words, I knew everything was going to be ok.

There
is currently no cure for Scleroderma, but with enough people pulling together,
there is hope. In honor of my mother,
please join me for a day of not only raising money, but of raising awareness
and showing support for all of the families affected by Scleroderma at Beaver
Vu Bowl, Beavercreek, OH, September 23, 2017, 2 PM – 4 PM. Please see flyer for additional information on
the benefit and feel free to contact me at any time to register your team or if
you have any questions!

The Scleroderma Foundation is a qualified national nonprofit operating under 501(c)(3) status. The foundation’s federal tax identification number is 52-1375827. Our primary goal is to raise funds for our three-fold mission of support, education and research. The foundation has 20 active chapters and 160 support groups across the country.